


SBURBStuck (Old Version)

by IcyGlaceon



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi, No Cannon characters, No trolls, OC cast, SBURB fansession, fansession, implied self harm tw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2020-10-11 13:58:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 18,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20547299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyGlaceon/pseuds/IcyGlaceon
Summary: A fansession about 12 kids who decide that ending the world via video games is a good idea.





	1. Act 1, Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Homestuck in 2019? It’s more likely than you think!  
Jokes aside, I joined the Homestuck fandom nearly a year ago, and recently remembered that I had an AO3 account. So, I’ve decided to post my 12-Kid session that I’ve been working on for over 6 months. Please enjoy!

* * *

_A young girl stands in her room. Today is a very special day for her, as it is the first day of summer break, along with her birthday!_

_ You recall her name, right? _

_ >Ruby Crismon _

_ Nope! You’re not having a repetitive name! _

_ So, try again! _

_ >Scarlett Lowell _

_ There we go! _

_ Your name is SCARLETT LOWELL. You have a love of SCIENCE, and participate in your school’s SCIENCE FAIR every year. You tend to prioritize the FINAL PRODUCT over the PROCESS, however. You also enjoy MUSIC, and play GUITAR. It was a bit hard AT FIRST, but you’ve gotten used to it. You are a PHOTOGRAPHER for the SCHOOL NEWSPAPER as well. You aren’t as MUCH AS A GAMER as some of your FRIENDS, but do enjoy playing them. In fact, you’ve discovered a new game, called SBURB! _

_ Your chumHandle is enternalGuitarist, and you tend to type normally. _

Scarlett looked at her laptop screen, as she was downloading a game. 

According to its description, it was the debut game of a company called Sakianet, and cost billions of dollars to fund and develop. It seemed like some sort of survival game, but could also bend reality? She wasn’t so sure on that last part.

Once she finished downloading the game, she contacted all of her chums on pesterChum. It may have been invented in 2009, but it had updated many times to keep up with current technology.

EG: Hey you guys! :)

RF: Hey Scarlett. Oh, yeah. It’s also your birthday, right? Then happy birthday!

EG: Thanks! :D

EG: Plus, I found this new game called SBURB! Anyone down to play?

RR: Sure. 

EG: Good!

DQ: Does this have anything in common with Minecraft

EE: Depends … you build … stuff. But it doesn’t … share anything else. I just … read the … game’s home page.

DQ: Good You know that Im not a fan of Minecraft.

FF: Hey guys! :D

DQ: Hey FF

EH: HIHIHIEVERYONE!!!!!!!! 

NH: why do you have to be so hyper, smh

EH: CHEER UP NH!!!!!!!!

NH: :/

SP: hi

EG: Is the gang all here?

LS: idk im here

EG: Good. Good. So, we’re waiting on 2 more, right?

EH: YEAH!!!!!!

DQ: So we’re here for SBURB right

EG: Yes.

RR: I’m Willing To Be Your Server Player Scarlett. I Am Downloading It Right Now.

EG: That makes me and RR. Anyone else?

EH: OOOOOOOOHHHHHH! ME!!!!!!! I COULD USE A NEW LETS PLAY IWANTTOPKAYIWANTTOPLAYIWANTTOPLAY!!!!!!

RF: I’m down.

EE: Okay then … I’ll join … too.

LS: me too

DQ: Is this safe

FF: Im sure that it is come on DQ play

DQ: Then I guess I will

TS: Well… If DorkQ is joining, then I shall as well. He will need somebody to know what is real and what isn’t after all.

DQ: D:<

TS: Calm down.

FF: Im playing obviously

DQ: Yeah Thats why Im joining

EE: So that’s … 9/12, right?

EG: Yep!!!!!!

FT: I’m here and Ill play

EG: Okay, that’s 10. Hey, NH, SP, want to join? The game can support 12 players, I think!

NH: i guess.

SP: then i will join in

EG: Perfect! Here’s the link to download the game, if you don’t have it already. As for the entry player, it’ll be the following: Me>EH>RF>EE>LS>DQ>TS>FF>FT>NH>SP>RR. I’m not going to change it, as it’s best to have a solid one so we don’t fuck shit up. 

EG: You’ll need to download both the server and client copies of the game.

—-enteralGuitarist has sent a link!—-

EG: RR, ready to be my server player?

RR: Sure. Shall We Go To PMs?

EG: Yep!

Scarlett then DMed her friend to start the entry chain. 

RR: Okay. Do You Have A Room That’s Fairy Empty?

EG: Yeah! Feel free to use the attic!

“Scarlett? Lunch is ready!”

EG: One sec. I have to have lunch.

RR: Alright. Everything Will Be Ready Once You Return.

Scarlett headed downstairs to her house’s kitchen to grab lunch.

“There you are! You shouldn’t be cooped up in your room all the time!”

Scarlett sighed. She knew that her Sister just wanted somebody to Strife with, and that person just so happened to be her.

Her guardian pushed a plate with a slice of pizza towards her, and Scarlett slowly ate it. She knew what was coming next.

“Now let’s Strife!”

Her sister loved to test Scarlett’s physical capabilities, and thus, strifed with her often. Scarlett disliked this, but still decided to fight.

Scarlett put her foot out to trip her Sis. It was a pretty dumb trick, but her sister did fall for it sometimes.

And this time, she did. Scarlett dashed up to her room and slammed the door behind her, panting. She was safe. 

Scarlett then contacted RR again and he began to get her into the game.

_ >Use MSPA Narratiation Once Again _

_ Now, who may this boy, who happens to have RR as his chumHandle abbreviation, be? _  
_  
_>Maxx Mathew

_ Ha ha ha- no. _

_ >Wyatt Baxter _

_ Your name is WYATT BAXTER. You’re pretty smart, and use that INTELLIGENCE for ROBOTICS, among other things. However, you aren’t AMAZING at it. You can be fairly optimistic at times, and try your best to STAY RATIONAL. People say that you are BAD AT IT, but you try to ignore them. Your PRIDE and JOY is the sparring partner ROBOT that you made for a good friend of yours, LLOYD. Finally, you like MATH a lot- it’s a great way to PASS THE TIME. _

_ Your chumHandle is redoxRunner, and due to you using a (fairly faulty) robot to type for you, The First Letter Of Every Word Is Capitalized. _

_ >Let’s go back to the normal narration style _

Wyatt put all of the machinery she would need to enter in her attic, and then saw that she had returned from her lunch.

RR: Scarlett, Shall We Get Into A Voice Chat?

EE: Sure! :D

A voice chat was then set up between the two of them.

“Okay. So, I just set up everything that you need in the attic. So, head up there, and follow my directions carefully. We can’t mess this up.” Wyatt explained. 

Scarlett nodded. “Sure.”

“See the one machine with the wheel and countdown?” Wyatt asked. “You’re going to need to bust that open first. It’s called the Cruxtruder.”

Scarlett found the machine to see that the countdown was at 12:15. She didn’t know what would happen once it reached 0, but it had to be bad. As for opening it up, she decided to smack it open with a plank of wood. 

A small orb of light then came out of the Cruxtruder.

“Wyatt?” Scarlett asked.

“Yeah?”

“Is it normal for an orb of light to come out of this thingy?”

“I believe so.” Wyatt replied. “Throw something at it- anything. Just, don’t jump into it, okay?”

Scarlett nodded, before grabbing a plushie of a cat and throwing it into the orb.

“Nya!”  
  
Scarlett facepalmed. Hopefully this too was normal.

“Okay, there are three more things that you have to do.” Wyatt explained. “First off, interact with the Cruxtruder to get a Cruxite Dowel.”  
  
Scarlett did so, and got a bright red Cruxite Dowel.

“Next, go to the Totem Lathe, and carve it.” 

She then took the dowel, and carved it. She then checked the countdown.

9:12

“Finally, you are going to need to take the carved dowel, and combine it with an item and the pre-punched card that I’ve set down in front of you to create an Entry Item. You will then do something with it, depending on what you combine it with, and you will then enter the game.”  
  
Scarlett took a pick from her guitar, and combined it with the two items to create a Cruxite Guitar Pick.

After, she ran down, grabbed her guitar from her room, and played a song on it.

The pick shattered, and in a flash of light, she entered the Medium.

“Good. Good. You’ve entered the game. Before you explore your planet, however, you’ll need to get EH in first, so we can progress the chain. Alright?”  
  
Scarlett nodded. “Sure thing.”  
  
She then messaged energeticHealer, to have the game progress.


	2. Act 1, Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the second part of the story’s first act, we are introduced to Aria Corran and Lloyd Winslow, who go by the chumHandles of energeticHealer and relaxedFighter. Both enter the game, with Aria recording footage the whole time so she can post it to YouTube.  
Chapter 2 of Act 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here’s chapter 2 of my story!  
I’m sorry if these begin to get a little more rushed. As each entry process is basically the same, I don’t feel like writing every single detail out. Once Act 1 is done and the players begin to explore the Medium/do game-related stuff, I hope that the chapters will be much less rushed.  
Enjoy!

_ >EH: Reveal yourself _

_ Your name is ARIA CORRAN. You have a YOUTUBE channel, with a following of about 9,000 people. You like to do LET’S PLAYS, and plan to do one with this SBURB GAME that SCARLETT has shown you. You also like ARTS AND CRAFTS, with your favorite MEDIUM being PRINTMAKING. It can be a HASSLE AT TIMES, but it’s worth it! You also love ANIMALS, with CATS being your FAVORITE. You want to GET ONE, but your DAD WON’T LET YOU. _

_ Your chumHandle is energeticHealer, and YOURENERGYSHOWS THROUGH YOUR TYPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! _

Aria took out her laptop to talk with Scarlett, and saw that she had already started up a private voice chat with her.

“Hey Scarlett!” Aria said.  
  
“Hi Aria!” Scarlett replied.

“You ready to get me into the game?”

From the other side of the screen, Scarlett nodded. She booted up the server copy of the game, and connected to Aria. Using the game’s cursor, she lifted up one of Aria’s stuffed animals and dropped it in front of her.

“Nice! I’ve got my client copy all booted up!” Aria said. 

“Alright! Is there anywhere in your house that is wide and open? I have a bunch of machinery that I need to put somewhere.”

“There’s my living room…” Aria said. Her Dad was working in the backyard, and probably wouldn’t notice.

“Alright!” Scarlett said.

Aria grabbed her camera, and started recording a livestream before heading down to the living room to see what Scarlett put there. But before she did, she grabbed her Kitty Claws. They were her only form of self-defense, and she was slightly nervous that she would end up in a Strife with her Dad. 

“Ayo-ri! It’s AriaDoesStuff, and I’m playing a new video game called SBURB!” She said happily. “Now let’s see what my server player, Scarlett, has left me!”

There, Stella had set up a whole host of machines, all to be used during the game. 

“Which one do I use first?” Aria asked. “Also, say hi to the camera!!!!!!”  
  
She waved at her server player, but Scarlett didn’t say anything back.

“I arranged them in order from left to right. You start by breaking open the one on the far left, which is called a Cruxtruder. Then, you get some Cruxite from it, and carve it in the next machine over, called the Totem Lathe. I’ll then give you a pre-punched card, and you’ll combine it with an item on the final machine, called the Alchemeter, to make your entry item. You’ll do something with it, and you will then enter the game.” Scarlett explained.

“Sounds easy enough!” Aria replied.

Aria ran over to the Cruxtruder and turned the wheel on it to open it up.

Suddenly, a small ball of light came out!

“Scarlett, what’s that?” 

“Your sprite. It’ll help you during the game as soon as you throw an item at it. So, go on! Prototype it!”

“Alright!” Aria replied.

She decided to take a plushie she had of a guinea pig, which she put in her Fetch Modus. Her Modus in question was the Skit modus, where if she wanted to get an item, she would have to act it out. It was a bit impractical, but she found it fun.

She threw it at the sprite, and in a flash of light, Guineasprite was created.

“Hi there! I’m here to help you get through the game!”

A look of surprise crossed Aria’s face. “Scarlett, is this normal?”

  
  
“Yep!” Scarlett said. “Now, get a Cruxite Dowel.”

Aria nodded and did so. The dowel itself was a crimson red in color, similar to the symbol on her shirt. 

“Good. Now use the Totem Lathe to carve it.”

Aria did so. “What next?”

Scarlett dropped the pre-punched card in front of Aria. “Now combine this, the Cruxite Dowel, and an item of your choice to create your entry item.”

Aria took the card and dowel, and, along with a seed, made her Entry Item. She put the seed in a pot of dirt It grew into a flower, allowing her to enter The Medium.

“Did I do it?” Aria asked.

“Yep!” Scarlett happily said. “Now it’s time to get your client player in!”

“Alright!” Aria replied.

She then proceeded to DM the next user in the chain, her camera positioned so her viewers could see what she was doing.

\---------------------------------------------------

A boy was outside, sparring with a robot that one of his friends made for him. He beat it, and his Aunt called him inside. Knowing that she would get mad if he didn’t, he put his sparring partner in his house’s shed and headed inside.

_ >Who is he? _

_ Your name is LLOYD WINSLOW. You have a variety of interests; ANIME, CREATING MANGA, SURFING, and ASTRONOMY are some of the biggest ones. You consider yourself to be pretty LAIDBACK and CHILL, and sometimes wonder if you are THE ONLY SANE PERSON in your friend group. However, YOU CAN BE QUITE DEFENSIVE OF YOUR OPINIONS AT TIMES. _

_ Your chumHandle is relaxedFighter, and you prefer to type normally, unlike some of your friends. _

“Lloyd! Lunchtime!” 

“Coming…” Lloyd said, annoyed. Scarlett had told him about a game that she had found, and he wanted to get around to playing it. 

His Aunt slid a piece of pizza in front of him, and Lloyd hungrily ate it. 

“I have to do a summer project for AP Bio, so I’ll be back for more later.” Lloyd grabbed his backpack and went up to his room. It looked like Aria had DMed him on pesterChum!

RF: Sorry that I’m late! I had lunch. Can you get me into the game?

EH: ITS FINE!!!!!!!!  
EH: IM GOING TO VOICECHAT YOU RIGHT NOW!!!!!! THISISGOINGTOBESOFUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He then got a voicechat request from Aria.

“Alright, so, I need a large, open space to put a bunch of stuff down. It’ll make sense soon.”

Lloyd considered his kitchen, but then remembered that his Aunt was still in there, and putting machinery there would make her suspicious. “You can do the hallway.” His Aunt would find out eventually, but putting everything in the hall would give Lloyd a little more time.

“Alrighty then!” Aria replied.

Lloyd headed out to his hallway to see a machine sitting there. He looked it over, and decided to ask Aria about it.

“Oh! That’s the Cruxtruder! You need to open it up!” Aria said.

“How do I do that?” 

“Slice it open with one of your swords or something!”

Lloyd didn't want to break his Steel Katana, however. “Is there any other way?”

“There’s a wheel on it, that, when spun, opens it up!”

Lloyd followed Aria’s instructions, and opened it up. His kernelsprite came out of it, ready to be prototyped.

“Alright, now you have to throw an object at that light thingy!” Aria said. “Anything!”

Lloyd went to his room and grabbed a picture of a husky. He then threw it at the sprite, creating Huskysprite.

“Arf arf! I’m here to make sure you survive the game!” He happily said.

Lloyd looked at him in surprise.

“Now, you need to get some Cruxite out of the Crux-” Aria began.

“Is it normal for the sprite to help you through the game?” Lloyd asked.

“Yeah! At least, that’s what Scarlett told me! Don’t worry. Now, go get some Cruxite from the Cruxtruder! I’ll then put down the Totem Lathe!!!!!”

Lloyd did so, ignoring Huskysprite. Aria placed the Totem Lathe down, and Lloyd carved the dowel. Aria then put down the Alchemeter, and give Lloyd his pre-punched card.

“Okay! Now, combine the Cruxite Dowel with that card I gave you, and add an item to it! Then, do something with it!”

Lloyd decided to make his Entry Item a Cruxite Sparring Partner, using some spare robot parts that Wyatt had given him.

STRIFE!

The two began a Strife, and then fought. The fight took a while, but in the end, Lloyd won by hitting its weak spot, and he entered the game, with 1 second to spare on his Cruxtruder.

“Congrats Lloyd! Now, you have to get the next person in the chain into the game. Once you do so, then you can explore your planet!”

Lloyd nodded. “Great!”

He then disconnected from his chat with Aria, and messaged his client player.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there’s chapter 2! If you guys have been liking this story so far, I might as well say that I have an account on the main Homestuck Amino, and you can find bios for all of the characters (Minus Wyatt and another player who hasn’t been revealed yet) there! This is the SBURBStuck folder of my wiki entries: http://aminoapps.com/p/xg3lfg (If the link doesn’t work, just search up “Homestuck and Hiveswap Amino”, And then search up SylphOfBreath)  
Just know that there will be minor spoilers in regards to who the unrevealed payers are, the classpects of each player, and what gets prototyped. There’s also a major-ish spoiler in FF’s bio, so feel free to skip over it unless you’re fine with getting spoiled in regards to what happens to her after godtiering.  
Again, feel free to leave constructive criticism in the comments, as it helps me out a lot!  
Thanks for reading!


	3. Act 1, Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The game continues to progress, which means that two new characters make a debut. Alice and Will, AKA enthusiasticEngineer and luckyShot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 3 of my story, and I hope that you have been enjoying it so far!  
Also, I might as well Note that this doesn’t take place in Universe B or C. It is its own self-contained universe, where the trolls and cannon characters do not exist. I do plan on making a lore post for it soon!

A girl finished up the final touches on a bomb launcher for the upcoming game that she was in, and then checked pesterChum to see if Lloyd had contacted her. He did.

_ >Do you recall her name? _

_ Your name is ALICE MARSHAK, and you like many things. The main one is MAKING EXPLOSIVES, which according to a billion laws, ISN’T FULLY LEGAL. But your COUSIN works for the GOVERNMENT and lets you GET AWAY WITH IT. You play TONS of video games, and you are the proud owner of a SWITCH, a 3DS, and a XBOX. Paying for online sucks, but SELLING YOUR EXPLOSIVES gives you the money you need. However, there’s ONE MISHAP that happened once that cost you your RIGHT INDEX FINGER. You eventually got a ROBOTIC REPLACEMENT, however. _

_ Your chumHandle is enthusiasticEngineer, and sometimes you tend to … pause in the middle of your sentences. _

RF: Hey Alice!

  
EE: Hi Lloyd. We’re talking about … the game, right?  
EE: Sorry … I’m working on … a bomb launcher for … the game.

  
RF: It’s fine. :)

EE: Great!  
EE: It’s downloaded for me, by the way. 

RF: Good. Boot up your client copy, and then listen to my instructions.  
RF: Should we switch to voice chat?

EE: Yeah.

The two then switched their communication to voice chat. 

“Okay.” Lloyd said as his server copy of the game booted up. He moved the cursor around, and decided to try and pick up one of the many explosives in Alice’s room.  
  
“DON’T DO THAT!” Alice yelled. “YOU’LL BLOW SOMETHING UP!”

Lloyd nodded, despite Alice being unaware of this. He then picked up one of her video game discs.  
  
“Can you see me picking this up?” He asked.  
  
“Yeah!” Alice replied. “What’s next?”  
  
“I have to place down a ton of machinery to actually get you into the game. Do you know if you have a very open space in your house?”  


“The guest bedroom. You’ll have to take the furniture out of it, but once that’s done, you’ll have plenty of space to work in.” Alice replied.

Lloyd looked for the guest bedroom in Alice’s house, and when he did, he threw all of the furniture in it out the window. He then put down all of the machinery that Alice would need to enter The Medium. 

“Alice? What’s going on?” Her Cousin, who looked after her, asked.

“Nothing!” Alice replied. 

She then ran to the guest bedroom, where 4 machines awaited her. 

“So, which one do I use first?” She asked.

“You start with the one in front of you, called the Cruxtruder. You’re going to need to open it up, so it releases your sprite. And by open, I mean NOT BLOW UP.”

  
“Alright!” Alice said while examining the Cruxtruder. She eventually was able to open it up, releasing her sprite.  
  
“What do I do with the glowing orb thing?” She asked Lloyd.  
  
“Throw something at it so you can prototype it.” Lloyd explained.  
  
Alice nodded. “Can you go over to my room, pick up one of my Inkling amibos, and bring it to me?” She asked.

“Why?” Lloyd asked.

“I’m too lazy to get it myself.”  
  
He sighed. “Okay. Fine…”

Alice then prototyped her sprite, creating Inklingsprite.

“Woomy!” The sprite said.

“Woomy indeed.” Alice replied.

The sprite then took out a Splattershot, and Alice pulled a bomb out of her bomb launcher.

“Wait!” Lloyd shouted. “There’s more!”  
  
“What?” Alice replied.

“You need to make your Entry Item. I can show you how, if need be.”  
  
She blushed a little. “Show me, won’t you?”  
  
Lloyd then walked her through the entry process, and soon, she was in the Medium.  
  
“So, now you’re getting Will in. Then, you’re free to explore your planet.”

“Alright!” Alice replied.

She then messaged him.

\----------------------------------------------------

_ >Next player: Be introduced _

_ Your name is WILL WITHEY, and SUPERSTITION IS YOUR PASSION due to your AWFUL LUCK. You carry many good luck charms with you, with your FAVORITE being your 6-LEAF CLOVER. But that’s NOT ALL of the things that YOU LIKE. You love READING BOOKS, and unlike most of your friends, SCHOOL. You do WOOD CARVING ON OCCASION, but you CUT YOUR HANDS a lot. Thus, you devote most of your time outside of HOMEWORK to WRITING STORIES STARRING YOU and YOUR FRIENDS. _

_ Your chumHandle is luckyShot, and you have a distaste for punctuation and capitalization _

EE: Hey Will?

  
LS: what  


EE: I need to … get you in!

LS: okay  
LS: booting up sburb now

“You good?” Alice asked. By then, Will had downloaded the game.

“Yep!” Will replied. “As for where to put everything? I guess you can do my living room. My Guardian’s out shopping.”

Alice put all of the machinery down, and Will went through the entry process. 

He had prototyped his sprite with a dragon plushie, and thus, it was called Dragonsprite. By then, Imps had begun to invade his house, and the two began to fight them off.

“Alice, this is normal, right?” Will asked as he fought of a horde of Underlings.

Alice nodded. “Yeah…” She said as she quickly fought off an Imp. “Now, take that pre-punched card I gave you, so you can make your entry item, and get into the game!”  
  
When he was done fighting, Will did exactly that, and entered

“What the... “ He remarked as he looked out his window at his planet. “Where am I?”  


“Your planet. You’ll find out about it when you explore, but that’s for later. You need to progress the game by getting the next player in.” Alice explained.

“Okay.” Will replied. “I’m getting DQ in, right?”  
  
“Yes.” Alice said. “I’d DM him right now.”  
  
Will nodded, looked at his list of friends on pesterChum, and selected dramaztizedQuarterback.  
  
Then, he sent a DM.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, as always! Half the cast is named/formally introduced, so that’s nice.  
Feel free to leave constructive criticism in the comments, and I’ll see you all when I post chapter 4!


	4. Act 1, Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 4 of my story, and I hope that you have been enjoying it so far!  
Please note that this chapter does contain a reference to self-harm, so if that triggers you, skip this chapter!

“Oh?” 

A boy quickly scrolled through his pesterChum DMs and realized that he had just received a new one.

_ >Introduce DQ _

_ Your name is DEREK SCANLAN. You are a HARDCORE theater kid, along with being the QUARTERBACK on your school’s FOOTBALL TEAM. Due to how the SCHOOL MUSICAL is in the SPRING, and the FOOTBALL SEASON is in the FALL, everything WORKS out. You also consider yourself a MEDIA CRITIC due to the collection of BOOKS, MOVIES, VIDEO GAMES, and MUSIC that your GRANDMA has collected. You love BOOKS, MOVIES, and GAMES with a good amount of ACTION and ADVENTURE, and your favorite type of music is ROCK. _

_ Your chumHandle is dramatizedQuarterback, and You dont really use puncuation _

DQ: Heyo Will

LS: hi derek

LS: is your client copy of sburb ready

DQ: Yes

LS: okay

LS: you have an open room in your house right

DQ: Attic

LS: good head up there ill get you into the game dont ask its kinda weird

DQ: I wont

Derek allocated his pistol to his strife Sbecibus and headed up to the attic. Like every kid in the chain before him, he came across a whole host of machines.

He then voice chatted Will so communication could be easier for him.

“Alright. So, everybody has to go through the same procedure to enter. But it’s a bit different for everyone. You start by going to the Cruxtruder to get a Cruxite dowel and to release your sprite, which will help you over the course of the game. You might as well get something to prototype right now.”   
  
“Alright.” Derek said with a nod. He ran downstairs, and grabbed his script for that year’s spring play. It had been performed months ago, but the script was his to keep.

Once he was back upstairs, he noticed that there was a countdown on the Cruxtruder, and it was at 5:15. He had some time, but he had to hurry up before something bad happened. The countdown was quite ominous after all.

He went through the entry procedure. Opened up the Cruxtruder, prototyped his sprite, got a Cruxite dowel that was ultramarine blue, carved it, and created his entry item- a Cruxite football and field goal. He scored a field goat with the football, and thus, entered the game.

DQ: Im in At least I think I am

LS: yes now, dm truthseeker shes entering next

DQ: Okay

He DMed truthSeeker so the game could continue without any major problems.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ > Who is she? _ _   
_ _   
_ __ Your name is CLARISSA SMITH, and the idea of death INTRIGUES YOU. You kinda want to DIE. Life SUCKS for you sometimes, and you aren’t that CONFIDENT. Thus, the SWEET ESCAPE OF DEATH seems nice at times. You don’t have many FEARS, as they cover THE TRUTH, which you DON'T LIKE. As for INTERESTS, you like PREDICTING THE FUTURE VIA TAROT CARDS, KNIFE USAGE, and POETRY.

_ Your chumHandle is truthSeeker and you tend to talk in an articulate manner. _

TS: Why hello there Derek.

DQ: Hey Clarissa Ready to enter

TS: Indeed. Let’s get this over with.

DQ: Way to be a killjoy :/

Derek did the usual. Find an empty room, in this case, the basement, and set down everything Clarissa would need to enter the game.

DQ: You start by going to the farthest left machine. Interact with it to get a Cruxite Dowel, and then,bust it open to release your sprite. 

TS: Aright, sounds easy enough…

Clarissa then went through the entry process.

Her countdown started at 3:14, which meant that she had little time before whatever happened when the Cruxtruder’s countdown ended happened. She extracted a dark purple dowel from the machine, and the proceeded to prototype her sprite with a dead raven that had been taxidermied by her Grandpa. 

She then carved the dowel, as per Derek’s instructions, and he put the pre-punched card in front of her. 

1:05. She didn’t have that much time left. 

“Alright. Combine the Cruxite Dowel with an item of your choice.” Derek said via voice chat.

Clarissa ran upstairs, grabbed a Knife, and created a Cruxite Knife.

30 seconds left.

She took the knife, but as she was about to shove it into her arm, she moved it away, causing the knife to shatter on the ground. She had a whole video game in front of her, and she needed to be in top condition to survive.

Clarissa was in the game.

Derek then spoke up. 

“Well, we’re one step closer to everybody entering the game, so that’s good.”

Clarissa nodded. “What’s next?”   
  
“Continue with the entry process, obviously. I think you’re in charge of helping FF with entering?”

“Alright then. Let me message her so she is aware of this.”

Clarissa then took out her phone, sat in a corner, and messaged FF, her sprite watching her all the while.


	5. Act 1, Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5 of my story is finally out! Hopefully you guys have been liking the story so far!  
The entry process is almost done, with one chapter left after this one. So, hopefully they get a bit less rushed!  
Finally, I don’t think that I addressed that most of the characters don’t have 4-6 or 4-7 names? It’s out of personal preference, for those who were wondering.  
Also, thank you so much for 125+ views! That may not seem like a lot, but it is for me! So, expect a bit of “Bonus Content” to celebrate!

A girl took out her laptop. SBURB had been successfully downloaded, so she was going to message her server player to state this fact and enter the game.

However, it looked like said server player had beat her to it.

_ >And she is… _

_ Your name is MEGAN FANCOURT. You play SPORTS, with the two that you’ve SETTLED ON being BASKETBALL and SOFTBALL. You love ANIMALS, and tend to RAISE MONEY for your local shelter. You also WORK THERE in your SPARE TIME. People have accused you of being a STUCK-UP CHICK, but you don’t fully BELIEVE THEM. As for OTHER INTERESTS? You like looking for ROMANTIC CHEMISTRY between your FRIENDS, and making RELATIONSHIP CHARTS. _

_ Your chumHandle is furryFriend, And you dont really use punctuation and capitalization its a bit useless. _

TS: Hello Megan. Shall we get you into the game so I can finally get to exploring wherever the hell I ended up?

FF: Sure thing ive got the client copy of the game ready

TS: Yes. Do you have some empty space in your home?

FF: The living room can serve that purpose but dont be too loud my stepsister is asleep

TS: Okay.

“Testing! Testing! 1, 2, 3!” Megan said.

“I get it…” Clarissa replied with a groan. “Well, I’m going to put shit in your living room. Go get something from your room to prototype.”   
  
Following her server player’s instructions, she grabbed a plushie that she had of a red fox, and then ran to her living room.

“Okay. Just, interact with the machines from left to right.”

Megan nodded happily.

  
  


First off was the Cruxtruder, which she was able to open after smacking it a few times with a baseball bat. She prototyped her fox plushie, and then got out a dowel of dark pink Cruxite.

The Totem Lathe was next, and she carved her dowel fairly easily with Clarissa’s guidance. 

Finally, she made her Entry Item, which was a Cruxite Baseball. By hitting it with her bat, she entered the game, with a minute to spare on the Cruxtruder’s countdown.

“You have now entered the game. But if you want to do actual game stuff, you must bring Marc into it.”   
  
Megan nodded. “I’ll tell him now!”

“Alright then.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ >As per usual, introduce the next player _

_ Your name is MARC RAVEN. You love TABLETOP GAMES, especially D&D and MAGIC. You are PRETTY FRIENDLY, and like to BE AROUND PEOPLE. SCI-FI MOVIES are your favorite genre, and nobody can CHANGE YOUR MIND. Your friends call you a bit UNRELIABLE, but you don’t really know what they’re talking about. _

_ Your chumHandle is futileTabletop and you tend to be a bit inconsistent especially when it comes to punctuation. _

FF: Heyo Marc

FF: Ready to play

FT: Yes! My client copys ready.

FF: Perfect then lets play

FF: Lets voicehat too

Megan set everything up for Marc in the guest bedroom, and placed the Pre-Punched card at his feet.

“You won’t need this right now, so don’t worry about it at first. Just, start by going to your guest bedroom. I’ve cleared everything out-”   
  
“You know that you’re going to make my Stepbrother freak out, right?” Marc said.

“You could have told me that, you know.”

Marc headed to the Guest Bedroom, making sure that the pre-punched card was stored in his Fetch Modus. Luckily, it was.

He reached the room to see a shitton of machinery in front of him.   
  
“What the…” Marc said, surprised. 

“Just, follow everything that I say, and you'll be fine, trust me.”

Megan walked him through the process.

First off was the Cruxtruder and prototyping. This part was fairly easy, and Marc was able to get a Cruxite dowel. For a sprite, he prototyped one of the miniatures he had lying around for D&D, which resulted in the creation of Halfelfsprite. 

He checked the countdown, to see how much time he had left.

4:25. He had some time, but not too much.

Marc carved the dowel, and then took the pre-punched card out of his Fetch Modus via tapping two blue mana cards, which he got from past capologues. 

Once the dowel was carved, he made his entry item, which was a Cruxite d20. He rolled it multiple times, until he got a natural 20, and thus, entered the game.

“Perfect!” Megan said.

“So, now what?” Marc asked.

“You will need to keep our session going. Contact SP. Once she’s in, you are free to do whatever the hell you want.”

Marc nodded. “Alright.”

Megan disconnected from his voice call, and Marc then contacted SP.


	6. Act 1, Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s Chapter 6! I don’t have much to say, except that alcoholism is mentioned in regards to Brendan’s Guardian in this chapter.

futileTabletop began pestering shyPainter on 6/19/19 at 12:03 PM CT

FT: Hey Anna Ready to play?

SP: yes marc, i am  
  


_ >Be Anna _

_ Your name is ANNA SARKIS. You consider yourself to be quite CREATIVE, and can find POTENTIAL in EVERYTHING. You love to PAINT, and you PLAY RPGs alot as well. You can be a BIT SHY, however, and DON’T REALLY LIKE CROWDS. FINALLY, you tend to RELY on OTHERS a LITTLE BIT. You can’t really help it. _

_ Your chumHandle is  _ _ shyPainter _ _ , and you don’t really use capitalization. _

SP: what should i do?

FT: Do you have an empty room in your house

SP: yes. The basement.

FT: Head down there, okay?

SP: okay.

Anna ended her chat with Marc, grabbed the paintbrush that she used for strifes, and then ran down to the basement. There, a bunch of machines awaited her.

She then started up a voicechat with Marc to make things easier for the two.

“Alright Anna! You’ll need this…”   
  
Marc gave Anna the Pre-Punched Card.

“So you can enter! Go to the Cruxtruder, which I just put a blanket on, and bust it open! Then, grab something. Anything. You’ll need it later, trust me.”   
  
He paused.

“And the countdown on it says 3:29, so be quick!”   
  
Anna grabbed a poster of a model that she made from her room, ran down, opened the Cruxtruder, and prototyped her sprite.

2:03

Marc than taught her how to get Cruxite and carve it via the Totem Lathe.

1:36

Then, Anna made her Entry item, a piece of purple paper, and drew on it to enter the game, with 20 seconds to spare.

“Did I do it?” Anna asked.

“Yes, you did.” Marc replied.

He paused for a second.

“You read Scarlett’s message, right?” He asked.

“Yes.”   
  
“Okay, Contact nightHallow and get him in.”   
  
“Alright.”

Anna then sent nightHallow a DM.

_ >And who may he be? _

_ Your name is BRENDAN LEAFEN, and you DISLIKE PEOPLE. They never LISTEN TO YOU, especially when it comes to your FATHER, who always SEEMS to be GONE or DRUNK. He once OFFERED YOU some BEER, but when you TRIED IT, you HATED IT. This general DISTRUST means that you WORK ALONE, usually PLAYING VIDEO GAMES or trying to TALK WITH OTHERS ONLINE, just to be disappointed when they act like THOSE YOU KNOW in REAL LIFE.  _

_ Your chumHandle is  _ _ nightHallow _ _ , and you are too lazy to capitalize letters. _

shyPainter began pestering nightHallow on 6/19/19 at 11:05 MT

SP: brendan?

SP: you here?

NH: yes anna. I have sburb booted up, so you are good to go.

SP: perfect. :)

Anna decided to do exactly what Marc did, along with everybody else that had been a server player so far: Find an empty room, put every machine that she got for free, along with giving Brendan his Pre-Punched Card.

SP: Voicechat me, and I’ll help you enter.

NH: okay.

The two then got into a voicechat.

“Alright Brendan. I want you to go to that one empty room in your house…”   
  
“The storage room?”   
  
“Yes. Head in there, and follow my instructions carefully.”

Brendan headed to the storage room, not knowing what to expect.

Needless to say, he was a bit surprised at all of the machines, but just kept his cool.

“Okay, see that Capolouge Card with the holes in it?” Anna asked.

“Yes.”

“Pick it up. You’ll need it soon.”

Brendan nodded and picked the card up.

“Bust open the machine right in front of you, it’s important. You might want to check your time limit too, as it’s on there.”

Brandan nodded. He then used a glass shard from one of his father’s beer bottles and sliced it open. 

His sprite came out, and he didn’t really pay too much attention to it until Anna started to talk.

“Okay! You’re going to need to get something and throw it at the sprite to prototype it.”   
  
“Why?” Brendan asked.

“If you don’t, you screw us all over.”

“Alright.”   
  
Brendan ran up to his room, and decided to get his old copy of Pokemon Pearl to prototype. Damn, how long had it been since he played that?   
  
It wouldn’t matter now.

As he headed back, the seconds counted down.

3:14

3:13

3:12

Brendan prototyped the sprite, and didn’t really pay attention to it. 

He then got a dark grey Cruxite Dowel, and carved it with the Totem Lathe and Pre-Punched Card.

2:10

Brendan then made his Entry Item, a Cruxite Bubble. He popped it, and entered The Medium.

His work was done.

“You know that you have to get Wyatt in, right?” Anna said.

“I’m WHAT!?” Brendan yelled.

“Just, do what I did.” Anna said.

With a groan, Brendan booted up his server copy of the game, connected to Wyatt, and threw everything in Wyatt’s attic.

He send Wyatt a message on how to enter, and then closed his laptop.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

Wyatt checked his computer to see that Brendan had left him a message before leaving their DM.

Classic him.

nightHallow began pestering redoxRunner at 10:15 PT

NH: hey wyatt. Go to your basement

NH: bring something with you and your weapons.

NH: you will see a machine with an ominous countdown. Bust it open, throw whatever you brought with you at the ball of light that comes out of it.then, interact with it to get a dowel of what anna called cruxite.

NH: use the card next to the lathe machine to carve the cruxite dowel. After, combine it with something, anything, to make your entry item. Then, you’re in.

nightHallow ceased pestering redoxRunner at 10:22 PT

Wyatt grabbed one of his robots and a hammer, and ran downstairs. His Mother looked at him strangely as he passed by her in the hall, but didn’t say anything.

He used his hammer to bust open the Cruxtruder open, without checking his countdown. His sprite came out, and Wyatt threw his robot at it. 

“Anything that I need to do?” Wyatt asked it.

“Your countdown is at 2:01. You should get to work.” The sprite, called Spritebot, replied.

Wyatt then carved his dowel, and created his Entry Item, a set of various Cruxite Objects.

“Pick out the most important items. You know what ones are.”

Wyatt looked at the items, and began to take them out, one by one.

When he took out the last item, he entered the game, and ran back upstairs to contact Scarlett.

redoxRunner began pestering enternalGuitarist at 10:25 PT

RR: Scarlett, You Are Free To Explore Your Planet.

EG: Finally! :D

EG: Let me pack up, and I’ll tell everyone!

RR: Okay. I Look Forwards To This.

redoxRunner ceased pestering enteralGuitarist at 10:30 PT

END OF ACT 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, Act 1 is finally over! Now, I can get to game stuff, which is great!
> 
> Finally, here are the classpects of each kid:  
Scarlett: Witch of Time  
Lloyd: Heir of Space  
Aria: Sylph of Life  
Wyatt: Page of Mind  
Alice: Knight of Doom  
Will: Mage of Light  
Derek: Rogue of Hope  
Clarissa: Seer of Rage  
Megan: Thief of Heart  
Marc: Bard of Breath  
Anna: Maid of Void  
Brendan: Prince of Blood


	7. Act 2, Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re finally at Act 2! I can finally get to game stuff, which I’m super happy about.  
As for how I’m writing it:  
Each chapter will be about a character exploring their planet, and maybe talking to a few other players, with all of them taking place at the same time, except for the EoA2 chapter, which takes place 4 days after the entry process.  
As for the character order? It will go in the entry order, and have an extra chapter focusing on Scarlett to close out the act.

As soon as Wyatt ceased pestering her, Scarlett decided to go outside to explore her planet. 

But first, she had to pick what to take with her.

A sleeping bag and changes of clothing were a must, so those went in her Fetch Modus first. 

Next up was her Hunting Rifle, which was allocated to her Strife Specibus.

Her guitar was capolouged next, followed by her phone.

Scarlett then decided to head downstairs, but as she tried to exit her room, she was ambushed by 3 Imps that looked like mangled messes of everything that she and her friends had prototyped.

With some help from Kittysprite and her rifle, the three were taken out, and Scarlett grabbed the grist that they dropped. She didn’t know what it was for, but it seemed important.

A few minutes later, she headed downstairs to see her Sister looking at her in surprise.

“Scarlett Lowell? What kind of fuckery is this?”

Scarlett looked around nervously. “SBURB.”   
  
She then snagged some food and absconded out the door, as Sis looked at her in shock. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Scarlett began to walk, fighting off Imps and other various Underlings as she explored her planet.

She then came across a village, but nobody seemed to be home. Scarlett then noticed a carved rock on the ground.

She picked it up and began to read it.

_ “The Witch of Time must die! She is the cause of the constant eruptions, and will pay for this!” _

“Huh.” Scarlett said as she put the rock in her Modus for further reference.

That’s when she saw the eruption.

Scarlett ran to it, trying to stop it. She didn’t know how, but she was called the Witch of Time. Maybe she could use time to stop the lava flow?

She got to the edge, and decided to concentrate on stopping the lava. She could feel the air getting hotter and hotter…

And then it stopped.

Scarlett had frozen the lava in time, but only for a few seconds, as it seemed to be flowing once again.

Noticing this, she ran away, and headed back to the village.

Scarlett then proceeded to get out her phone to pester her friends.

-enternalGuitarist has started a group chat on 6/19/19 at 4:00 EST-

-relaxedFighter has joined the group chat-

-redoxRunner has joined the group chat-

-furryFriend has joined the group chat-

-energeticHealer has joined the group chat-

-futileTabletop has joined the group chat-

-enthusiasticEngineer has joined the group chat-

-luckyShot has joined the group chat-

-nightHallow has joined the group chat-

-shyPainter has joined the group chat-

-truthSeeker has joined the group chat-

-dramatizedQuarterback has joined the group chat-

EG: So, have you guys explored your planets yet?   
  


TS: Yes. But I bear bad news.

TS: As we entered this game, we destroyed Earth in the process.

TS: We are, in theory, trapped here until we win.

TS: If we win.

DQ: Well to quote one of my favorite bands

DQ: Its not over till youre underground

DQ: Its not over before its too late

DQ: The citys burning 

DQ: Its not my burden

DQ: Its not over until its too late

EH: WERE TRAPPED :O   
EH: NO!!!!!! :(

EH: WERE DONE FOR!!!!!

NH: oh aria.

NH: your mere presence is sickenly sweet

NH: it makes me want to throw up

RF: Well, some sacrifices must be made.

RF: And if it’s destroying Earth, than so be it.

EE: Lloyd … you are quite … chill about this.

RF: I know. :)

EG: Well then, let’s win this! So we can go back to Earth! Or something.

RR: Indeed.

LS: hopefully my bad luck wont ruin things

RR: It Won’t Will.

RR: You Are Quite Superstitious, And It Is Getting To You.

FF: Is anyone here called weird things by a bunch of reptiles

FF: They say that im a thief of heart

RF: Yes. The local marine iguanas have been referring to me as the “heir-apparent to the throne of space.”

RF: Quite poetic, to be honest.

FT: the locals have been calling me the “bard of breath”

SP: It seems like we are all having fairly similar experiences.

TS: Indeed.

TS: The consorts have been calling me a “Seer of Rage”, for those wondering.

EG: Interesting!

EG: So, let’s all go off and explore our planets, and check back in each day!

EG: Have fun everybody!

RF: See ya. :)

-relaxedFighter has left the group chat!-

-truthSeeker has left the group chat!-

-dramatizedQuarterback has left the group chat!-

-enthusiasticEngineer has left the group chat!-

-futiletabletop has left the group chat!-

-furryFriend has left the group chat!-

-luckyShot has left the group chat!-

-redoxRunner has left the group chat!-

-energeticHealer has left the group chat!-

-nightHallow has left the group chat!-

-shyPainter has left the group chat!-

-enteralGuitarist has closed the group chat on 6/19/19 at 4:23 EST-

Scarlett turned off her phone to conserve battery and continued on her trek, killing imps as she ran into them. By then, she had a good amount of grist, and because she was low on food, Scarlett decided to head home.

Her home was quiet. Almost too quiet. She didn’t know where he Sister had gone, and she didn’t want to know just yet.

She made quick work of the imps blocking her way to her Alchemeter, and once she got there, decided to do a binge alchemy to get rid of all of her grist.

First up was upgrading her rifle- she’d need to do that to survive.

After a few alchemizations, she was able to create an Ultimate Rifle, with no recoil and unlimited ammo, a perfect weapon for a game like this. 

With the rest of her grist, she decided to make a few outfits.

Outfit #1 was called the Scientific Dress, created from a combo of her homecoming dress from the fall and a science project. It was a white dress, with the skirt bring a translucent white. A small button on one of the sleeves made it bubble and light up in different colors.

Her second outfit was the Enhanced Hoodie, created by combining her sweatshirt with a plank of wood. It didn’t change the design, as all it did was make the sweatshirt more resilient. 

Scarlett’s third and final outfit was an upgrade of the Scientific Dress, being the Galactic Ball Gown. It was very similar to the Scientific Dress, but had a much longer skirt, and had a star pattern that also lit up. 

After she made the Galactic Ball Gown, Scarlett ran out of grist, and the sun began to set. So, she decided to go to bed, unsure if this would be the last night in a while where she would sleep in her own bed.

After falling asleep, she woke up somewhere where she had never been before.

Derse.


	8. Act 2, Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I ended Scarlett’s chapter with a cliffhanger, and yes, it was intentional.  
Here is Aria’s chapter of Act 2!  
Next up will be Lloyd’s chapter, which will tie up a bit of the loose ends in regards to the end of Scarlett’s chapter.  
Enjoy!

After closing out of Scarlett’s group chat, Aria decided that she might as well pack up and head out to her planet.

7 capatcha cards meant that she could take 7 items with her, along with the Kitty Claws allocated to her Strife Specibus.

First off was her Allergy Meds. She was deathly allergic to peanuts, and she could encounter anything here.

Second was food and water, and lots of it. She would need it to survive.

Next up was her recording equipment to film all of this. 

Her next items were a change of clothing and pajamas for when she needed to sleep.

Cards number 5 and 6 were her laptop and phone for contacting her friends.

The final card held nothing- she could pick up anything on her journey.

Aria then slipped away, her Dad not noticing her.

She then began to record footage.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was greeted by a large expanse of flowers, which reached up to her waist. They were all in various pastel colors, the most noticeable being pink.

Aria eventually came across a stream, and she sat next to it, her cascade of hair flowing around her. As she rested, a pair of Axolotls ran up to her.

“Do you think that’s her?” One of them asked.

The other nodded. “She matches the legends perfectly! The Sylph of Life will finally help us!”

The first one then turned to Aria. “Sylph of Life! You have finally arrived!”

Aria looked at the axolotl in confusion. 

“What?” She asked.

“By creating life, you can regrow the special herbs that we use to heal ourselves! Follow us!”

One of the axolotls grabbed her hand, and Aria reluctantly followed them. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eventually, the 3 reached a small village located near a lake. 

“Wow, you guys are super smart!” Aria said happily. 

The consorts then lead the player to a garden, filled with various flowers and herbs. She was then led to the very end, and was greeted by wilted plants.

“This is what we mean.” One of the two axolotls said. “We use them to heal illnesses, and summon the local hummingbirds.”   
  
“Oh no!” Aria said with a look of sadness and surprise on her face.

“Plus, Hamara, the Denizen of this land, has been sending these… creatures. We’ve been able to fight them off, but they keep on coming, and coming and…”   
  


A large group of Underlings then approached the group.

“And there’s one now!”

Aria unallocated her Kitty Claws, and made short work of the Underlings. 

“You really will save us!” An axolotl said.

Aria nodded. “You bet! Your plants will be fine in no time!!!!!!”

“Amazing! Now, Sylph, you must head out and conquer the unknown. If you find a cure for our plants, please return!”

Aria nodded. “I sure will!”

She then left the village, unsure of what to expect.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aria ran into Underlings, fought them off, and soon, was a bit on the tired side. So, she decided to set up camp for a bit, and maybe pester Scarlett about SBURB.

She started by sorting through all of the footage she had gotten during her early explorations and time in the village. There was a lot of it, and she’d have to edit it when she got home, or to be more accurate, if she got home.

Next, she set up a somewhat makeshift meal for herself- beef jerky due to how it was non-perishable, cheese and crackers, and water. It wasn’t fully nutritious, but it was filling.

After that was done, she decided to see if Scarlett was online.

Nothing.

So, she decided to set up her sleeping bag, and call it a night.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She then woke up in some sort of a golden city, in what seemed to be her room. But this seemed impossible to Aria- she had set up camp near a river, and wasn’t in her room at all.

Then, Aria realized that her glasses were lacking lenses.

She could see normally, something she always wanted since she was forced to get glasses.

Aria then decided to look around her room. It seemed to be the same, but when she looked out the window, it was that same golden city. She also seemed to be in some sort of tower.

Then, on impulse, she decided to jump out of the window.

It turned out that she was able to fly.

Aria floated down to the ground, and was now on a long bridge. She then decided to explore a bit.

As she did, she ran into the residents of this place- humanoids with white skin, who called themselves “carapaces”. Aria talked with them, and as she did, was able to gather some information.

First off, this place was called Prospit, one of the two moons that the players in a SBURB session dreamed on. The moon was also known as the Kingdom of Light, and was ruled by the White King and White Queen. It orbited Skaia, and thus, any player who dreamed on the moon could look out the window and see the clouds of it, which told them of what was to come.

As she gathered this information, Aria noticed that the Skaia that the carapaces had been talking about looked a bit like a checkerboard. She decided to take note of that, as it seemed important.

But as soon as she did, Aria woke up. She didn’t remember that much of her time on Prospit, as it all seemed like one hazy dream. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aria then decided to see if Scarlett was online, and she was. So, she decided to pester her.

energeticHealer began pestering enternalGuitarist on 6/20/19 at 7:38 AM PT

EH: HI SCARLETT!!!!!!!   
EH: SO I HAD THIS WEIRD DREAM I WAS ON THIS GOLD MOON CALLED PROSPIT!!

EH: DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT

EG: No. I did have a dream on a purple moon, called Derse, however.

EG: Maybe the two are connected in some way.

EH: WELL THE CARAPACES TOLD ME THAT THERE WERE TWO MOONS THAT PLAYERS DREAMED ON!!!!!

EH: MAYBE DERSE IS THE OTHER ONE!!!!

EG: That would make sense.

EG: Now Aria, I must go. 

EG: See you!

energeticHealer ceased pestering enternalGuitarist on 6/20/19 at 7:46 AM PT

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aria then closed out of pesterChum, and continued to explore LOFAC.


	9. Act 2, Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After 2 weeks, this chapter is finally done! There was a lot I had to put in it, so that’s mainly why the wait’s been so long. But now, it’s out!  
Also, SBURBStuck has an official Tumblr now! It’s SBURBStuck.tumblr.com if you want to check it out! I’ll be posting a lot of bonus content there, so if that’s your sort of thing, great!  
Now, onto Lloyd’s exploration of his planet!

Lloyd looked at his room sadly, knowing that he might never return. He couldn’t believe that he was packing to go out onto his planet, unsure of what would happen.

His phone was a given, as he needed it to communicate with his friends. 

He then put in his body pillow, some of his art supplies and some paper, food, and water.

Lloyd’s final item was his Steel Katana, but that got allocated to his bladekind specibus. 

He then took one final look at his room, which was messy as hell- his bed wasn’t made, there were drawings everywhere… 

Lloyd would have cleaned it up, but he wouldn’t be coming back in a while, so there was no reason to.

He then shut the door and headed out of his house. As he passed his Aunt, she said nothing. It was as if she knew where he was going, and what he was doing.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

When he left, Lloyd felt like he hadn’t left home. There were beaches, just like the ones he was used to, but the water was frozen solid.

He walked along one of these beaches, until he ran into some sort of temple.

It was made out of shining prismarine, and was at the very edge of the ocean. Art of frogs and what seemed to be of him, for some reason or another, were carved into the walls.

Lloyd headed inside, knowing that it meant that there were people here.

When he stepped foot into the temple, he heard footsteps. A pair of marine iguanas then ran up to him! 

One of them then grabbed Lloyd’s hands, and looked up at him. 

“Do you know what you are?” He asked. 

Lloyd shook his head.

“You are the Heir-apparent to the throne of Space! You will stoke our Forge, and then, with the help of the Witch and Knight, you will create the Genesis Frog, the speaker of the Vast Croak!” He happily said. At least, Lloyd thought that it was a he. “Once you are done with that, you will light the Forge!”

The other iguana looked at the one holding Lloyd’s hands. “How do you know that it’s him?”

“Well, he fits the description perfectly!” He said. 

The other iguana then grabbed a rock and threw it at Lloyd. 

  
  
Lloyd flinched back and closed his eyes, bracing himself for the inevitable pain.

But it never came.

He opened his eyes to see that the rock was floating in front of him.

He laughed a bit, unsure of what the hell was going on.

“It’s him!” The iguana that threw the rock said. “It really is him!”

Lloyd laughed nervously again, and then asked the question that he had been wanting to ask for a little bit.

“Where is your Forge?” 

“On an island not far from here. It’s a big volcano, so it’s hard to miss!”   
  
Lloyd nodded. “How do I get there?”

“We would say sail, but you’ve seen what’s happened to the ocean… It’s been frozen over!”

“Can I walk over it?” Lloyd asked.

“You can try!” An iguana said.

Lloyd nodded, and left the temple. He stood on the ice, and it was able to support his weight. So, he said goodbye to the consorts, and headed out.

On the way, he talked with his friends, in a memo that has already been shown.

\----------------------------------------------------------

He took out his Steel Katana, and began his journey. As he did, many Underlings ambushed him, and for the most part, he was able to take them out. However, when he was close to getting hit, he’d teleport a few feet away.

This surprised him, but he just decided to laugh it off a little bit. It must have had to do with SBURB, and was a part of the game.

Eventually, he saw a volcano in the distance, and headed towards it.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Once Lloyd arrived at the Forge and fought off a few more Underlings, he decided to talk a bit with Alice.

-relaxedFighter began pestering enthusiasticEngineer on 6/19/19 at 6:03 P.M. EST-

RF: hey, Alice?

EE: ?

RF: Have the residents of your planet been calling you weird shit?

EE: They’ve been calling … me their Knight … in not-so-shiny armor.

EE: Not sure what that means, smh.

RF: There are marine iguanas where I am, and they say I have to team up with a Knight and a Witch…

RF: I’m not sure who the Witch is, but I guess I’ll be teaming up with you.

EE: Great!

RF: I hope that the Witch, whoever she is, will be nice enough to help us.

EE: Same here.

RF: Well, I’ve reached a massive volcano that is apparently called the Forge. So, see ya.

EE: Bye!   
EE: :)

-relaxedFighter has ceased pestering enthusiasticEngineer on 6/19/19 at 6:12 PM EST-

Lloyd put his phone back in his Fetch Modus and walked into a fairly large tunnel carved into the side of the Forge.

He then entered a large cave, with a windowpane that showed a room that held some sort of machinery.

Except, there was no door leading to it. Just volcanic walls.

Annoyed, Lloyd put a hand to the glass and sighed. 

Then, he realized that he could possibly teleport into the room.

Thus, he focused on teleporting into the room, and soon, he was in it.

“What the-” Lloyd said, looking around. “That’s cool!”

However, he was getting tired, and wanted to talk with the Horrorterrors about SBURB…

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lloyd had been awake on Derse for about a year now. He didn’t know why he ended up there, but after he had bought a frog for a frog-jumping project and it died, he had been having dreams on it.

Lloyd had learned quickly that he wasn’t alone. The moon did have residents, in the form of carapacians, humanoids that, in a way, resembled black chess pieces. These carapacians had a King and Queen, which Lloyd talked with once.

But that wasn’t all. Derse was located near what the locals called the “Furthest Ring”, and there lived what were called “Horrorterrors”, which had talked to him on occasion about “The Game…” and what was going to happen to him and his friends.

Today, he was going to try and get some info about it from them.

But as he did, Lloyd saw a girl who looked a bit like the pictures that Scarlett sent of herself.

“Scarlett?” He asked.

Scarlett looked at him strangely. “You’re Lloyd, right?”

Lloyd nodded. 

“Want to have a pajama party?” She asked with a grin. 

“I was about to go talk with the Horrorterrors about SBURB, but a pajama party sounds much more fun!”

So, the pair had a pajama party, until the two got too tired and their waking selves woke up.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Lloyd woke up, and then sighed. He hadn’t gotten the info that he needed. 

But he did see Scarlett, so that was a plus.

He then decided to mess around with the machinery, and see what it did.

Sadly, nothing really happened, and all he was able to do was get a bunch of scraps of paper, which looked like the pieces of some sort of map, which he put in his Fetch Modus, which was the gimmick-free Array.

There also was a note.

_ Young Heir, I cannot make your Quest too easy- that would ruin the entire purpose of it! So, I have provided you with this map. Over time, you will assemble it piece by piece, and once it is done, you may talk with me, stoke the Forge, and begin creating the new universe you all will live in if your session succeeds with the help of your Witch and Knight.  _

_ The map will be assembled as you climb through your gates and go up your Echeladder, so don’t think you can complete it right away… _

The rest was blank.

With nothing else to do, Lloyd decided to head back to his home. After all, that was where his gates were, and he would need to go through them to complete his Quest. 


	10. Act 2, Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m finally done with Chapter 10/Act 2 Chapter 4! This chapter is the longest one so far, and officially has SS crossing the 10K word barrier. I hope that you enjoy it!

EE: :)

-relaxedFighter has ceased pestering enthusiasticEngineer 6/19/19 at 6:12 PM EST-

Alice put her phone back in her Fetch Modus, and quickly took inventory of the items that she had.

Her phone was a given, alongside a portable charger. Food, water and a tent were also important due to it being survival gear. Alice also had a change of clothing, in case her current clothing got wrecked.

Allocated to her strife specibus was a bomb launcher, which contained 15 bombs. She’d need to restock soon.

She then ran into more Underlings, still mangled messes of all of the things that the 12 players had prototyped pre-entry. She took them out easily with the help of Inklingsprite, giving her a good amount of grist, which was also a reminder of making some new gear for her adventures.

Alice then ran out of explosives, and headed back to her house to restock.

\---------------------------------------------------------

“Alice what is going on?” Her Cousin, Aster, asked 

Alice quivered nervously.

“I’m playing a video game, called SBURB. It’s a simulation game, so this is part of the stimulation.” 

Aster looked at her oddly. “How did somebody do this, and why didn’t they tell the government? This would have been perfect for military training!”

“I’m not sure, and that’s not important. This game is very, very dangerous.” Alice replied before running up to her room. 

\----------------------------------------------------------

Alice put more bombs in her launcher, and then went to her laptop to build up Will’s house. Once she ran out of Build Grist, she went to her Alchemeter. 

Her first priority was to make more explosives so she could go outside for longer. 

With a combo of her bombs and a copy of Splatoon 2, Alice made a bunch of Splat Bombs. 

She then upgraded them once more with the usage of some spare explosive parts.

With that, Alice had a bunch of strong explosives, and was able to head back out onto her planet.

But before she did, she shot a quick DM to Lloyd to build her house up some more, and one to Will telling him that he could go through his first gate.

\----------------------------------------------

Alice decided to take a secondary route with Inklingsprite, and came across a small village. She then decided to enter it and explore a bit.

When she did, she saw multiple newts fighting each other. But she had seen this before. When exploring her planet, Alice had run across another village, also in complete anarchy. There, they had referred to her as their “Knight in not-so-shiny armor”. 

“Knight of Doom! You’ve come!” A newt said.

Alice looked at it oddly. “Knight of what?”

“Doom.”

“And what may that be?”   
  


The newt shrugged. Or at least to Alice, it looked like a shrug.

“That’s what Hades said.”

“Hades? Like the Greek God?” Alice replied.

The newt said nothing.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eventually, Alice ran into a group of various Underlings. She was able to take out the majority of them, but eventually, she reached low health, and was forced to abscond back to her house. However, that meant that she could go on an alchemy binge with her newly earned grist.

First off was adding onto her collection of explosives. She burned through them quickly, so having a good amount on hand was important.

Stun Bombs && Splat Bombs = Stunning Destroyers

The bombs that she made did a good amount of damage, and stunned any foes that took damage from it.

But she could do better.

Stunning Destroyers && Copy of Minecraft = Redstone Destruction

These new explosives had a higher damage output. No new effects, but more damage was always great. 

T-Shirt && Splatoon 2 Copy = Squid Shirt

This created a shirt with a squid on it, and some defense from attacks.

Squid Shirt && Physics Test = Squiddy Equation Tee

It allowed for a little more defense, which was pretty great. The tee had squids and various equations on it.

Jeans && English Essay = Grammar Jeans

The jeans now had various editing marks on them, and offered protection, like every piece of clothing she alchemized. 

She upgraded her clothing a few more times, until she was satisfied with the amount of protection it gave. Alice also alchemized more explosives so she could stockpile them.

Once she was satisfied with her alchemy spree, she headed back out to LOWAV.

\----------------------------------------------------------

Alice was able to find imps pretty quickly, and her explosives were able to take them out in a few hits, netting her a good amount of XP and allowing her to get higher and higher on her Echeladder. A quick check showed that she had reached Level 43, which cheered her up. She seemed to be about two fifths up, which was nice.

Inklingsprite hadn’t joined her, as she felt like just hanging out at Alice’s home. Alice didn’t get this fully, but it seemed to be NPC logic, which never fully made sense to her.

A few hours later, Alice decided to rest. She found a small cave, and set up her sleeping bag. She then fell asleep.

\---------------------------------------------------------

But she woke up a few seconds later. But not on LOWAV. 

Instead, she was in her room, except for how everything had a light blue tint to it.

Alice then looked down to see that she was wearing a dress. It was light yellow, and had a symbol of a moon on it.

“W-what’s going on!?” 

Alice then saw a staircase leading somewhere, and headed down it.

She was now outside, and saw that she was in a tower when she woke up. There were 6 of them, but Alice didn’t go up to them. Instead, she went away from them, looking for answers.

She soon walked into a somewhat humanoid being, wearing an outfit that reminded her of the various Underlings Alice had ran into. 

_ ‘Maybe it’s connected…’  _ She thought to herself.

“Hello?” She asked them.

“Oh! You must be one of the dreamers!” They said. “Did you just wake up?”

Alice nodded. 

“Welcome to Prospit!”

“Thanks?” She replied.

“I think that the Queen might want to see you. Follow me!”

Confused, Alice followed them.

She was lead to a castle, just as golden as the rest of Prospit. 

However, the door was guarded by yet another being, who looked at her with disgust.

“You brought the Knight here?” He said, exasperated. “You know that she shouldn’t be here yet!”

The being that brought her there sighed. “She just woke up. She deserves to meet the Queen.”   
  
“I am much higher in the Prospitian hierarchy, so I will not allow it. I shall escort the Knight back to her room.”

“Y-yes sir.”

Alice was then brought back to her room. She then went to bed, and woke back up on LOWAV.

She then noticed that she had a DM from Will.

-luckyShot began pestering enthusiasticEngineer on 6/20/19 at 6:34 AM EST-

LS: alice you on

EE: Yeah … just woke up.

LS: morning then

LS: ive begun to explore my planet the land of lakes and clovers

LS: the locals say that im a mage of light whatever that means

EE: I guess that I’m the Knight of Doom?

EE: That’s what these newts are calling me.

EE: I might as well talk with Scarlett now.

EE: See you Will!

-enthusiasticEngineer ceased pestering luckyShot on 6/20/19 at 6:58 AM EST-

She then pestered Scarlett.

-enthusiasticEngineer began pestering enternalGuitarist on 6/20/19 at 7:01 AM EST-

EE: Scarlett?

EE: Do you know what’s going on?

EE: I’ve been called the Knight of Doom repeatedly, expected to solve a problem on LOWAV, and have started to have weird dreams on this place called Prospit.

EG: Clarissa told me a bit about that.

EG: The first part is your title. She doesn’t know too much about it yet. 

EG: The second is apparently called a Land Quest. It nets you a shitton of rewards and XP as you complete it.

EG: As for that last one? Aria’s told me about this Prospit place, but I’ve never been. Instead, I have weird dreams on a dark moon called Derse.

EG: Lloyd also seems to be there? We had a pajama party when I first went there.

EG: Clarissa seems to have a SBURB guide implanted into her brain. That’ll be helpful, if she lightens up a bit! 

EE: That’s good to hear.

EE: I might as well go for now. Figure out my land quest and my title, make some new clothing and explosives,that sort of thing.

EE: And maybe you should too.

EE: Bye Scarlett!

-enthusiasticEngineer ceased pestering enternalGuitarist on 6/10/19 at 7:18 AM EST-

Once Alice logged off of pesterChum, she smiled a bit. She had always felt bound by rules, and tried to overcome that by making the “cool gamer girl!” part of her personality a lot more obvious. Alice didn’t know the rules of SBURB, but they seemed to possibly be a bit looser.

Maybe she could finally put down her shield, and finally be herself.


	11. Act 2, Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I’m sorry that there’s really long stretches between chapters! School’s been getting in the way, so thats mostly why. But I finally have Chapter 5 of Act 2 out, so hopefully this’ll hold you guys off for a little bit!  
(I might also start posting art to SBURBStuck’s Tumblr to help hold you guys off too! It’s SBURBStuck.tumblr.com, so go check it out!)  
That’s all I have, so enjoy this chapter!

“Welcome, Mage of Light, to the Land of Lakes and Clovers!”

Will had just closed the memo Scarlett had begun, gone on a quick alchemy spree, went though his first gate, and was now in a village occupied by salamanders.

“Mage of Light? What’s that?” Will asked.

“We’re not sure! Cetus told us that the Mage would fix our bad luck, and nothing else!”

“I think I might as well help you guys out. Hopefully my bad luck doesn’t get in the way.”   
  


“Good luck Mage.” A salamander said.

“We’ll see.”

——————————————————————

Will went back to his house, and decided to combine random items on his Alchemeter together to see what happened.

He made a few new articles of clothing that also doubled as defense against Underlings. Thus, he now donned a few clothing upgrades.

For headgear, he wore what was called the Science Hat, a combination of a baseball cap and some old Chemistry homework. 

His shirt was now the Cloverquation Shirt, made from his shirt and a pre-calculus study guide. It stayed a long-sleeved shirt, but now had a pattern of various math equations. A small pocket on the left side of the shirt had a clover on it.

His pants, made from a combo of his jeans and the study guide for his English final, were called the Story Jeans. They were now covered with lines from various books.

Finally, his shoes had been replaced by the Chem Sneakers, sneakers with various element abbreviations on them. 

But his biggest boon with his alchemy spree was turning his chemistry textbook into a Book of Science Spells by combining it with a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Now, he could smack things into submission due to it being so heavy, or use the book to cast spells.

——————————————————————

Will then began to explore his land.

It was one large meadow, with the grass being replaced with clovers and various wildflowers. Large lakes also covered the land. It was also quite sunny and warm, but not in an uncomfortable way.

Sometimes, he’d run into Underlings, and was able to take out most of them with relative ease, whether it be with science spells or smacking them to death with the actual textbook.

“You know… this is actually kinda fun!” He said after reaching level 36 on his Echeladder.

He then decided to head back home to make stronger gear and better weapons so he could fight the stronger Underlings that had begun to appear as he leveled up. 

———————————————————————

Will also quickly checked on his Cousin before alchemizing, to see if he was okay.

He was sleeping, and didn’t seem to be harmed.

But now, it was time to alchemize.

Before he did, however, he felt like he had been hit in the face by a book of knowledge.

He could combine various things together, and combine those with his spellbook to add new spells to it.

Via combining various items, he now had a spell to find things, a fireball spell, and a spell to make attacks stronger. He also upgraded the actual book so it dealt more damage per hit. Will also made his clothing more durable as well.

Then, he headed back out to explore and help out the salamanders.

—————————————————————————

This was a different village, much farther away from his home. It was much bigger than the first one he ran into, with it having tons of shops, homes ranging from huts to mansions, and lots and lots of salamanders.

When Will reached the center of the village, a bunch of salamanders came up to him.

“Hello there! Would you like a tour of the city?” One asked.

“Wouldn’t mind it.” Will said, nodding his head.

The salamander that had asked his took his hand, and began to lead him to the town square.

Will then was given a grand tour, pointing out many points of interest, along with some shops that he considered going to after the tour.

The tour eventually ended, leaving Will to explore the town. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hello there! Welcome to our store!”

Will looked around to see what the store sold. Potions, a few weapons, and some tags with various symbols on them.

“Hey, could I see those tags?”

“The Fraymotifs? Of course!”   
  
The salamander handed him a tag that had a symbol of a sun on one side, and a galaxy-like symbol on the other.

“What does it do?” Will asked.

“It’ll help you out in battle! Would you like to see another one?”

Will pointed at one that had the same sun symbol. He was then handed it.

The tag had the sun on both sides.

“I’ll take this one.” He said.

“That’ll be 3,500 Boondollars!”

Will handed over the Boondollars, leaving him with 400.

“How much are those potions?”

“150 a pop! What do you want? Healing, strength, invisibility?”   
  
“I’ll take 2 healing potions.”

Will was handed two healing potions, which he put into his Fetch Modus. 

He then left the shop to continue exploring.

\------------------------------------------------------------------

Will had begun to get a basic grasp on SBURB by now, knowing which enemy was which, which ones to avoid, which ones netted the most XP, and which ones would help optimize any grinding that he did, so he could climb the Echeladder as quickly as possible, gaining a shitton of Boondollars, sweet loot, and being able to afford Fraymotifs. He learned pretty quickly that he’d need to make trips between his house and his planet as well.

On his first day after entering, he woke up on Prospit for the first time.

It confused him at first, but he was able to get used to waking up on the moon whenever he went to sleep. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

After waking up on Prospit for the first time, he pestered Wyatt when his waking self woke back up.

-luckyShot began pestering redoxRunner on 6/20/19 at 11:04 AM CST-

LS: hey wyatt

RR: Will?

LS: sburbs been crazy so far

RR: Yeah. The Locals Have Been Calling Me The Page Of Mind, And My Land Quest Feels Super Drawn Out.

LS: sometimes the game smacks me with knowledge

LS: long quests are important for the journey of a page they can be very powerful but they have to earn it through hard work and effort

LS; so be patient youll finish it eventually

RR: I Guess.

RR: There Are These Computers.

RR: When I Turn Them On, They Show Quick Clips Of Everyone Dying.

RR: I Stopped Turning Them On After A Few Sightings.

RR: Though Seeing Megan Die Is Semi-Satisfying.

LS: You’ve never been a fan of her

RR: Indeed.

LS: well might as well explore a bit more you should too

LS: see you wyatt

RR: See You.

  
  


-luckyShot has ceased pestering redoxRunner on 6/20/19 at 11:25 AM CST-

Will put his phone down. He smiled a bit, and then headed onwards.


	12. Act 2, Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a month-ish, I finally have chapter 5 of Act 2 done! I’ve been pretty stressed lately, which is why I haven’t updated in a while.  
Enjoy this chapter!

Derek’s land was one big turf field, and to him, it felt painfully like home. 

He had found the snakes that lived there quite easily. There was a village of them that he found as soon as he arrived.

They greeted him, and started calling him the “Rogue of Hope”. They showed him the secret society they had, worshipping a symbol that looked somewhat like the wings of an angel.

Derek was then told of his mission: His Denizen had corrupted one of the snakes, causing him to wreak havoc on the land. Now, he had to catch them, and take away his evil beliefs. 

He found this somewhat interesting, and decided that he’d do what the snakes asked him to do. This excited the snakes, and Derek was fairly happy to help. One of them even gave him a map of the surrounding area.

But first, Derek wanted to be prepared. He went back to his home, and downloaded GristGutter on his computer. He then took a bit of grist from the app’s Grist Gutter with the intent of filling up his grist catch.

He then went on an alchemy binge, making gear and weapons until he was satisfied.

Derek then got a little more grist, and gave some of his food healing properties. He didn’t know how long he would be out for, so he wanted a way to heal up. 

\----------------------------------------------------------

Derek heads out, and runs into a few Underlings, being a small group of Imps and an Ogre. Due to his strong weaponry, he’s able to take the imps out easily, but the ogre takes a little more effort to kill.

After the fight, he eats a healing cupcake he alchemized, restorting his HP.

He takes out the map his consorts gave him, and decides to go to one of the major landmarks of the land- the Champion Field. According to the consorts, the evil snake liked to sunbathe there.

However, all he could find were a few underlings, which he picked off one by one. Due to the session’s many prototypes, he gained a lot of XP for each one, causing him to skyrocket up the echeladder.

Derek then leaves the field, deciding on going back home. He now has a modest amount of grist, enough to make some more healing items. But instead of going out again, he decides to take a short nap. 

\-----------------------------------------

Derek sometimes had nightmares where he’d be running down a purple hall, chased by a pursuer that he could never see. At the end of each one, he’d be cornered, and then he would wake up.

But this one was different. He was in a purple hall, but wasn’t running away from something.

Derek was a bit confused by this, but shook it off fairly quickly.

He realizes that he can walk around, and he isn’t being chased. Derek then sighs in relief. 

He exits the hall, and finds himself in a city, the buildings and roads having a purple tinge to them. Human-like creatures roam the streets, each one having a hard, black, outer shell.

Derek tries to ask them where he is or what is going on, but they are slightly hostile to him. All he gets is that he’s on Derse. Defeated, he decides to explore, and avoid the residents. 

He then finds 6 towers, each having a fairly large, glassless, window. Derek’s somewhat unsure of how to up up there, slightly annoying him.

But then, he notices a girl and a boy, who notice him. Surprisingly to hm, they’re floating in the air. 

The boy and girl float down to meet him. Derek doesn’t recognize either of them.

The boy lands on the ground, and the girl remains floating in the air. He holds his hand out to Derek, offering a handshake. Derek takes the offer.

“Name’s Derek. Nice to meet you.”   
  
“Name’s Lloyd. The girl’s Scarlett.”

“Nice to meet you two. So, what is this Derse place?”   
  
“It’s one of the two Dream Moons. Basically, 6 of us in this session go here when you sleep. You’re the second one that I’ve met, which means that you’re the third dreamer here that has ‘awakened’.” Lloyd explains. “I’ve been here before the game began, so I’ve gotten used to the place. As for Scarlett, this is her first time here.”

“Do you know what the other moon is?” Derek asks Lloyd.

“It’s called Prospit. The carapacians here don’t like it.” Lloyd answers.

“If you two are playing the game, doesn’t that mean you were in eternalGuitarist’s group chat about SBURB?”   
  
Scarlett nods. “Yep!”   
  


“Which two?”

“My handle is relaxedFighter, and Scarlett’s is eternalGuitarist.” 

“Mine’s dramatizedQuarterback. And Scarlett?”   
  
“Yeah?”

“You’re the one leading this, right?”   
  
She nods.

“Hey, should we go back to our towers?” Lloyd asks. “We’ve been here for a while.”   
  


Scarlett nods.

“Derek, want to come with us?”

“Why not?” Derek says with a shrug.

“Oh, and you can fly here.” Lloyd remarks, beginning to float a little. “Just think about flying.”

Derek is able to figure this out, and soon, all 3 are floating in the air.

Scarlett is taken to her tower, and she thanks Lloyd.

“So, now we’re finding your tower.” Lloyd says.

The pair float around, looking into each tower until they come across one containing a bedroom similar to Derek’s but everything has a purple tinge. A few of them have people sleeping in them.

“Do you know who those other people are?” Derek asks in regards to the 2 other people they saw while looking for Derek’s tower. 

“I’m guessing some of the other dreamers. But for who they are, I’m not sure.”

Lloyd and Derek then go through the window of Derek’s tower, and Lloyd leads him to his bed. 

“Now, you just sleep to wake back up.”

Derek then goes into his bed and falls asleep.

\------------------------------------------------------------------

His waking self then wakes back up, right where he was when he fell asleep. Derek doesn’t fully question this, as it seems to be a part of the game.

Derek then goes looking for his Grandma.

But he finds no trace of her.

“Looks like it’s time to head back out.”

And with that, he leaves home to go looking for his Guardian.


	13. Act 2, Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarissa explores her land, and learns that her consorts are on the brink of war, and that she must stop it! She also awakens on Derse for the first time, meeting Jack Noir, who plans to kill Megan. She warns Megan of this, before continuing her explorations, and beginning to realize that this session is somewhat lacking in the rules and order department.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And A2C7 is finally out! Thanks for being patient with me, as I've been going through quite a bit and haven't had much motivation to write.  
I also got the pesterLogs/colored text to work, so from this chapter onwards, the logs will finally have Homestuck's font and the text will be colored, and I'm really happy about that!  
Finally, quick tw for implied self-harm/enjoyment of being hurt. If that sort of thing makes you uncomfortable, just read the chapter summary, which I'll be doing for every Clarissa chapter/chapter with any major triggers other than fights getting graphic.

Clarissa is a bit disappointed, as there’s no going back to Earth. But she’s also happy. She’s away from the people that she truly hated. 

She’s explored her land a little, and it feels like it was tailor-made for her.

But of course, that’s what the game’s all about. Each player has parts of the game customized for them, as if the game knew that they were playing.

She had started to get bits and pieces of info on the game. She didn’t know everything, but what little she was given could help out the group. 

Clarissa had done what she had done in what little video games she played. Fight Underlings, get grist, alchemize, rinse and repeat. They were very strong, and she didn’t want to explore her land until she had a chance at survival.

She was able to get to a fairly okay level, and decided that now, she could begin exploring her land. It had a name, which she already knew. The Land of Truth and Visions. As for what her Quest was and what was going on? She didn’t know.

She walks into a village, made of dark obsidian. Nobody comes to greet her at first, but as she explores, a skink walks up behind her. 

“Has the Seer finally arrived?”

Clarissa turns around, surprised.

“Who- who are you?”

The skink looks up at her. “I am Brother Sam, one of the members of the Church of the Seer of Rage. And you fit the descriptions of the Seer perfectly!”

Clarissa is a bit confused. She knows that this was part of the game, but she didn’t expect to learn her title so soon.

The skink tells her of how the skinks of the land have been suffering, and that she must ease it, if not stop it altogether. 

She’s not sure how to do this, but she accepts. 

\------------

That night, Clarissa goes to sleep, and has her first dream of Derse.

Clarissa explores the moon, but doesn’t run into anybody. This slightly disappoints her, but there’s always next visit.

When she explores, she meets a carapacian that stands out from the rest. He’s wearing the same mishmash of clothing that the residents of Derse wear, which reflect what everybody had prototyped pre-entry, except for the fact that he’s a bit taller and has a dagger strapped to his coat.

He seems annoyed, but not at Clarissa.

“Sir?” she asks.

He looks at her.

“Oh. One of the dreamers. Do you know anything about the Thief of Heart? I have to put her down. Queen’s orders.”

Clarissa shakes her head. She knows that Megan is the Thief, but that’s it.

“Well, if ya learn anything about her, tell me. I’ll give you a pretty handsome reward for it.”

“Okay.”

“Name’s Jack, by the way. Jack Noir. Don’t you forget that.”

“I won’t.”

He then strides away quietly complaining about the Queen of Derse.

Clarissa isn’t sure what to make of this, but it seems important. She’s not sure how or why, but she takes note of it, and decides that she’ll warn Megan when she wakes up.

She then decides to go back to her tower. She’s had enough for today.

\------------

Clarissa pesters Megan once she has returned to her waking body.

-truthSeeker [TS] began pestering furryFriend [FF]!-

FF: Hey clarissa why you talking to me

TS: Megan, I bear bad news.

TS: A carapacian by the name of Jack Noir is planning to kill you.

FF: Okay how do i avoid him

TS: He does not know much about you. So you will be safe for a little bit.

TS: But when he finds out about where you are, you must be alert!

FF: I will

-truthSeeker [TS] has ceased pestering furryFriend [FF]!- 

To her, it wasn’t perfect, but would work. 

Clarissa then continued on. Everything was dark, but seemed to be the ‘theme’ of the land.

As she did, she fought off Underlings. She liked it, but not just for the rewards. When they attacked, she knew she deserved it for not dodging in time. But the pain felt nice to her. She didn’t know why, but to her, it just did. It’s almost as if she deserved the scratches, for not dodging in time. 

Each fight was hard, with enemies being hard to kill. She wasn’t sure if this was because of everybody’s prototyping decisions, part of the game’s difficulty, or something else entirely.

\------------

The skinks don’t really tell her much about how she has to solve the planet’s problems, just that the Denizen has taken multiple artifacts, causing the consorts to be at the brink of war. To Clarissa, this seems to be very abnormal. Shouldn’t she be getting more guidance?

To her, it feels like the game’s lacking when it comes to rules, and maybe limits too. It seems abnormal, but intentional. Almost as if the game wanted this lack to happen. 

Her Seer knowledge won’t give her all the answers in regard to the source of this lack, or why it was there. At least, not yet. She’ll have to experience more, gain more levels, and then it’ll come to her, stronger than ever before.

But to gain more levels, she needs more firepower, and more durable gear. She’s at level 47, and extremely strong enemies have begun to spawn. If she’s not prepared, she’d die in one hit, maybe two if she was lucky.

So, she returned to her home. If she wanted to fight, she needed to upgrade her gear and weapons.

\------------

Alchemy was one of the many things that intrigued Clarissa, as the concept of combining items to make better ones was quite interesting, at least to her.

She got stronger gear via usage of combining her clothing with metals, and having more layers to soak up hits. She’s started to wear a coat, along with a pair of silk gloves, which would also help her tank hits due to how the game ran. It also allowed her to pester others. But everybody was offline, for the most part, doing their own thing.

Clarissa then pesters Derek. He’s not online, but she just needs to notify him to build her house up to her first gate.

Once that’s done, she heads out. Clarissa doesn’t feel like waiting for him to respond.

Clarissa then departs. The time has come for her to fully unlock her lenient Seer knowledge, and that means she must fight or do what little side quests there are.


	14. Act 2, Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm able to get 2 chapters out on one day due to a ton of motivation! (That's what study halls are for, after all)  
So, enjoy the chapter, as I might not publish another for a little bit.

Megan was never one to heed warnings. But this one felt different. She didn’t know what would happen if she died. Would it just be a game over?

She wanted to know, but at the same time, she didn’t.

Megan puts her phone back in her fetch modus, as she doesn’t feel like pestering people.

She then stands up.

“Thief? Is something wrong?”

One of the komodo dragons living on her planet must have noticed the distressed look on her face

“What do you think?” she asks.

“Maybe you should rest for a little bit. Sleep off your worries. You still have to help us with the dragons that have been causing us trouble.” the consort suggests.

“Maybe that's a good idea.” Megan says. “For once.”

“Please, let me bring you to a place to rest. You are far from home, after all.”

The komodo dragon brings Megan to a small hut, which is lavishly decorated. There’s a bed in it, and Megan lays down on it. She then falls asleep...

\------------

...and wakes up in her room.

Except, it isn’t her room, exactly. Everything is tinted gold, and when she looks out the window, she doesn’t see the landscape of her planet. Instead, she sees golden towers, and a chain leading to a moon.

She’s wearing pajamas that are light yellow, and were similar to her first outfit, before she alchemized new clothing that could help her survive the game. Except there’s a symbol of a moon instead of a basketball.

Megan looks for a way out, and the only one seems to be the window, which lacks glass. But jumping out it could kill her, and she doesn’t want that to happen.

After trying to figure out some ways to explore, she finds out that she can float. So, Megan floats out her window, to see that she is in a large, golden, city. Humanoid creatures roam the streets, akin to pawns on a chessboard. Some of them look up at her, surprised, and a bit happy.

Megan floats down to one. They seem happy to see her.

“Hey. Where am I, exactly?” she asks.

“My friend, this is Prospit! The kingdom of light.” they say, excited.

Megan seems a bit confused, but it seems to be of some importance.

“Thank you.”

“No problem kid!” it says.

Megan then looks up at the sky. She sees a planet, with bright blue skies, and clouds.

She then realizes she can see things in the clouds.

Most things she hasn’t seen, and feature people she’s never met, who must be her session mates. They tend to explore their lands, but they also show the occasional fight, and for a split second, a girl dying.

But the one that stuck out to her the most was her body, wearing the same outfit as she was now, with a stab wound in it. 

She would die at some point.

\------------

Megan doesn’t explore any further, instead, vying to go to her tower and fall asleep, causing her waking self to wake up in a cold sweat. She’s panting a bit, as one would expect when you see a vision of your dead body.

When she wakes up, a komodo dragon comes in, concerned. He’s holding a small tray with some food and a glass of water.

The consorts tend to give Megan a lot of attention, which she likes. Since she’s going to save them, they want to make sure that she’s always in a good mood.  
“Thief of Heart? Are you okay?”

Megan shakes her head. “Sadly, no. But you don’t need to know why.”

She eats some of the food (cookies), and chugs the glass of water. As she does, her sprite, Foxsprite, comes in. She’s not exactly helpful, just telling her what she’s already done or has already been told to her. But Megan liked the attention.

She decides to pester Lloyd out of boredom.

-furryFriend [FF] began pestering relaxedFighter on 6/21/19 at 1:27 PM!-

FF: Hey lloyd

FF: ;)

RF: Hey Megan. Why are you talking to me?

FF: Because why not

RF: Okay?

RF: How’s the game been treating you?

FF: Well i saw a vision where i die so not well cutie

RF: Megan…

RF: Please don’t be like that to me.

RF: I’ve got my heart set on another person.

FF: But youre so cute

RF: I’m not going to put up with you being horny.

RF: Goodbye.

-relaxedFighter ceased pestering furryFriend on 6/21/19 at 1:31 PM!-

Megan sighs. Looks like her flirting attempt was a failure.

But the fact that Lloyd has a crush on somebody intrigues her. Enough to retrieve her shipping journal and writes down Lloyd <3 ???. 

Megan then gets out of the bed and stretches. She’s rested up and is ready to explore the area around the village. She had ended up here due to going through her first gate, so Megan never had been there.

\------------

But even then, it’s more of the same. More basketball courts, more Underlings, more levels and grist to gain. She’s a bit miffed that she is at level 47, as she’s been fighting a lot and beating hard-to-kill enemies. She would ask Will or Clarissa if they knew what was going on (they seemed to know a lot), or maybe Scarlett, but to her, Clarissa is a killjoy, Will’s a wimp, and Scarlett is bossy. 

After a while, Megan gets bored, and goes back to the village. With a shitton of boondollars to spend, she wants to stop by the fraymotif store. They sold special attacks, but they were all stupid expensive.

\------------

“Welcome to the fraymotif shop! Anything you want?” a komodo dragon asks when she walks in the shop.

“Can you show me your wares?”

The dragon gives her a list of what she assumes are the various fraymotifs for sale. All of them have “Heart” listed, but others have things such as “Heart+Space” and “Heart+Time”.

Megan doesn’t buy ones with 2 aspects, instead, vying for ones reading “Heart”. She’s able to buy 2, as they are stupid expensive. But they seemed strong, so maybe it was worth the money. 

She then heads to a return gate, which Foxsprite showed her when she went through the gate. Megan then steps through it, heading home.

\------------

She then heads into her home. She hasn’t been here in a while, and some imps have broken in. With her Blaze Bat, an alchemized bat that could set enemies on fire, she was able to take them all out quickly.

Megan then realizes how tired she is, and she’s fairly beaten up from her fights. Thus, she goes to bed.

\------------

As she explores Prospit, a carapacian looks at his Fenestrated Wall. This carapacian is Jack Noir, and he’s been observing the Thief of Heart for quite some time. 

He looks at his knives, wondering which one will be the best for doing the deed. 

Jack then grabs a knife. It’s time for him to go to Prospit, and kill the Thief.


	15. Act 2, Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's Chapter 9 of Act 2! It's much longer than I expected, to be honest, and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. It was fun writing Marc though, as his whole "try to befriend everybody" thing causing gravitating towards Blood was interesting.  
I've also tried a new thing for pesterLogs. They didn't turn out great, but it took me 40 minutes to make them, and by that point I basically gave up. Here's to hoping that I can put them together more properly, or figure out how to.

Marc walks into a village, styled to look like one from a fantasy book. To most, this would be quite out of the ordinary, but to Marc, he’s gotten used to it. Every town on his planet, the Land of Fantasy and Storms, was like it.

Turtles roam the streets of the town, and the majority notice him, being a newcomer. But they don’t talk to him, in favor of just going about their days. 

But when Marc comes into the center of town and passes the village’s church, a turtle sitting on the steps decides that he might as well talk with Marc. In fact, he even looks happy to see him!

“My my! It seems like the Bard is paying us a visit.” he says.

“Why yes I am, my friend!” Marc replies.

“That’s great to hear!” the turtle says. “Please, stay a while. As the one destined to drive away the storms plaguing our planet, you must be well-rested and able to fight!”

“Well then!” Marc says. “Do you guys have magical items or weaponry I could use?”

“Please, follow me!”

\------------

Marc is led to a large market, selling a variety of things, mostly mundane. But one booth in the back, ornately decorated, seems different.

The turtle running the shop notices him once he and the turtle he met on the steps walk inside.

“Oh! Welcome, welcome, both of you! I’m guessing you want a look at my wares?”

Marc nods.

The turtle gives him a list of magical potions and weapons.

“Feel free to write how many you want of each in the column next to the items.” The turtle explains.

Marc looks at the list and decides to get a few magic potions that allow him to be stronger and to heal up, along with an enchanted scroll that he could use for alchemy.

He hands over the sheet and Boondollars he needs to pay, and in return, gets what he ordered.

“Thanks for doing business with me!” 

Marc leaves the shop, and decides to head home.

\----------

Windy Sickles && Enchanted Scroll

Marc alchemizes a new weapon when he returns, being a pair of sickles that could blow back whatever it hit, with the added bonus of doing some extra damage and having a chance at burning the target. A perfect weapon for the enemies he’s facing, which are much stronger due to his level and the many prototypings that his sessionmates did.

It was pretty useful, allowing him to gain a few levels and plenty of grist, and as he fought, began to come into his abilities as a Bard of Breath. They weren’t too strong, however. Any time he was able to destroy using his aspect, it would only last for a short amount of time, and not do a ton of damage.

But to him, it was what it was, and he decided that maybe he’d level up even more, in hopes of his abilities getting stronger. 

But first, he wanted to talk with Scarlett about the game.

  
-futileTabletop began pestering eternalGuitarist on 6/23/19 at 11:53 AM!- 

FT: scarlett! My friend, comrade, compadre! 

EG: Oh. Hey Marc.  
EG: What’s up?

FT: the sky, of course! FT: but if we’re talking about how the game is going, and it’s going great!  


  
EG: Same here. But stabilizing the timeline by time travelling back and forth is quite hard. :/ 

EG: But I’ve got to keep us from losing, so… 

  
FT: scarlett, may you clarify this? You are my friend after all! 

  
EG: Sure… 

EG: Our session is lacking in the rules department, at least, that’s what Will said. 

EG: So, I have to jump around the timeline to compensate for that, and keep our session from ending with everybody dying, or at least, Lloyd, since we need him to do a thing to win, not sure what it is yet. 

EG: I think I’ll ask him later. 

  
FT: well, that’s great to hear!  


FT: but i guess i shall end our conversation, as i just wanted to talk with one of my many friends and the leader of all of this.  


FT: goodbye scarlett!  


-futileTabletop ceased pestering eternalGuitarist on 6/23/19 at 12:18 PM!-  


Marc is happy to talk with his friend, or at least to him, she’s his friend. And she’s keeping everyone from losing, which makes him quite ecstatic!

But now, he must alchemize even more things to make use of his huge amount of grist. So, he does, making stronger weapons and more resistant gear, perfect for fighting off powerful enemies.

\------------

But as he’s out questing, he starts to wonder if he should visit other people. Nobody seems to be visiting each other, or at the very least, visiting him. But maybe staying here on his own is good?

Marc doesn’t know or care.

He then sees a large storm. It’s huge, and seems both important and crucial for his land quest. The turtles had always complained about the storms on the planet. So maybe he was supposed to get rid of them? He didn’t really know, and to be honest, he didn’t care. His presence would sometimes drive them away.

But he had much better things to do, and the turtles that told him of the Bard’s tale were overly vague, and no matter how hard he searched, he had next to nothing.

Marc fights off more foes, getting stronger and stronger.

And after an hour, he decides that he should sleep, and give that Prospit place a visit. He’s slept a few times over the past few days, and every time, he ended up there. And hey, maybe one of the kids in the towers will be awake.

\------------

He wakes up on Prospit, and when he’s there, he sees a fairly short boy with messy ginger hair. He’s guessing it’s Will, as he once sent a picture of himself who looked quite similar to that. Of course, he wasn’t wearing the yellow pajamas he wore here on Prospit.

Marc floats down to the boy, and taps his shoulder.

“W-wha!?”

He seems startled.

“Hey Will!” Marc says happily.

“Who… are you?”

“Marc, futileTabletop, the Bard of Breath, I go by many names.”

“O-okay.”

“So, how’s the game been treating you? Good, bad, just okay?”

“Not amazingly. Bad luck is a cruel mistress.”

Will sighs.

“Well, just turn that bad luck into good luck!”

“Well, as a Mage of Light, I’m starting to learn a lot about luck, and am getting some information as well. The salamanders say that I’m supposed to learn from Light and use it to help them out, as they have really bad luck with getting food, with crops rotting away, or not getting fish from the lakes.”

“Well, do you need help? I’d love to help a good friend like you!”

Will shakes his head. “It’s supposed to be my personal journey, and it meant to be done on my own. Plus, we barely know each other! Why should I trust you?”

“Since we can become friends! I’d love to help my sessionmates and get to know them!”

“Well, we can’t even meet up. We’re stuck on our planets. At least, until we go through our first gates.”

“Well then! Then maybe I should go through mine, and then we can meet up!”

Will sighs at this. “I’m fine, I’m fine. I can handle this on my own, even with bad luck.”

He floats up to his tower, leaving Marc on his own. Marc’s a bit frustrated, but doesn’t go after Will. He doesn’t feel like it.

In fact, he’s quite tired. So, he returns to his tower, and goes to sleep, allowing his waking self to awaken.

\------------

“Now that was a nice rest!” Marc says, HP now full.

He doesn’t really know what to do now. His gear is as good as it gets, his server player, Megan, is offline, and he isn’t in the mood to pester. Looks like he will be continuing his hack-and-slash, and try to drive away the storms.

It’s what his quest wants him to do, anyways.


	16. Act 2, Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 4/13 everyone! I’ve finally got a chapter of SBURBStuck done after a month and some procrastination. Hopefully I’ll be able to get another chapter out sooner, as I feel kinda bad for such a long wait. Either way, enjoy!

Anna’s land was bathed in light. Too much light. But it was a calming light, in a way. 

Her mother had ditched her as soon as she entered, with no more than a “go fend for yourself, I'm not helping you” note. But she didn’t expect more than that. Her mother tended to be passive-aggressive like that. 

One would expect for her to search for her, but Anna never liked her mother. Constant passive-aggression and guilt tripping did that to a person, forcing them to rely on others, mostly friends.

Mostly Aria.

\------------

Intersections. So many goddamned intersections. Guess that was why it was called Canvases and Mazes.

Anna goes left, like she always did since her arrival. It made it easier to head home, and kept her from getting lost. At the start of the turn, she makes a small “X” on one of the canvases making up the maze, to show that she had gone there. 

She continues on, until she sees a small gila monster.

“Could it be?” it asks, squinting into the light. “It is! My lady, do you happen to be the Maid of Void?”

“That’s what everybody has told me so far…” she says quietly. “I’m guessing you want me to darken the maze.”

The gila monster nods.

Anna moves her hands around and creates a void, darkening the area.

“There you are!” She says.

The gila monster smiles. “Thank you, young Maid.”

Anna nods and continues on.

\------------

After some time, she comes to a small tent, with a gila monster inside. 

“Oh, please, please come in!” it says when it sees Anna. However, she cannot go fully into the tent, as it’s quite small. She lies down on the ground, and slides her upper body into the tent, as it’s all she can fit in there without it being too cramped for the gila monster.

“So, it seems like you’re the Maid of Void? You match the descriptions perfectly!”

“I’ve heard that a lot…” Anna responds quietly.

“The maze is getting darker and darker… It seems like you’ve been making progress.”

Anna nods. “Yes. Is it safe to rest here?”

“Yes it is, Maid.”

The gila monster comes out of the tent, allowing Anna to squeeze herself into it. She then falls asleep…

\------------

She wakes up in her tower on Derse, something she’s gotten used to.

Anna swings herself out of bed, and floats out of her tower. She lands on one of the streets, and sees a girl with pale skin, brown hair tied into a pair of pigtails, and red eyes. Anna lightly taps her on the shoulder, and she turns around, startled.

“I don’t think we’ve met…” Anna quietly says.

“In person? No, we haven’t. But I’m pretty sure we have over the internet.” she says with a smile. She holds out her hand. “Scarlett Lowell. Though you most likely know my handle, eternalGuitarist.”

“Oh, you’re the leader, then?”

Scarlett nods. “Yes I am.”

“Can you tell me what I’m supposed to be doing?”

Scarlett seems taken aback. “Well, it’s simple. Do your land quest thing, fight off enemies, make strong gear and weapons, and when you feel like you’re ready, head through your second gate. I’m sure it takes you somewhere, but I don’t know where just yet! But I guess that’s what makes it fun.”

“Yeah…” Anna says.

“Well, want to go explore Derse?” Scarlett says enthusiastically.

She just quietly nods.

The two come to the front of a large building, close to the castle. 

“What even is this place?” Anna asks.

“I think a library?” Scarlett says, pointing to a sign above the door, saying “Library”. 

Anna looks up. “Oh.”

\------------

The pair go into the library, and are greeted by extremely tall bookshelves, a front desk with an annoyed carapacian sitting behind it, and carapacians browsing the library.

The two girls walk up to the front desk. The carapacian looks up at them, bored.

“Welcome to the library, how can I help you…”  
“We’re new here!” Scarlett says confidently. “Do you have any books on the history of this place?”

“You can look over there…”

The carapacian points at a bookshelf.

“Thanks…” Anna says quietly as the two head over to the shelf.

Scarlett gets there first, and pulls out a fairly large book. She then begins flipping through it, until she gets to an illustration. 

“Anna, you might want to take a look at this.”

Anna comes over and sees the illustration. It’s of 6 kids, 3 male, 3 female. A girl in a purple dress, a boy in a yellow tunic and white mask, a boy in black and grey with a comically long hood, a boy in red with a short sleeved shirt and pantaloons, a girl in a red dress and striped tights, and a girl in a dark blue dress.

“It’s us. Or, some of us. Me, you, Derek, Lloyd, and I haven’t the girl in purple or boy in red.”

“The boy in red’s Brendan. He was my client player.”

Anna pauses.

“I wonder why we’re in this book.”

Scarlett turns the page and reads the top paragraph.

“The Witch, Heir, Maid, Seer, Rogue, and Prince shall team up with the kingdom of light to overthrow the King and Queen and usher in a new era of darkness.”

Anna looks at her. “Do you even know what that means?”

“Probably some prophecy bullshit. Like, we’re destined to kill this place’s king and queen at some point.”

“Then you’d expect the people here to kill us?”

“Yeah.” Scarlett says. “But maybe they can’t? Like, they aren’t allowed to.”

“Maybe.”

Scarlett closes the book and puts it back on the shelf. 

“This game is crazy. It’s like we were destined to play or something, since Lloyd’s been awake here for a few months…”

“Yeah.” Anna quietly says.

“Oh! And there is a way to return to the ‘real’ world. You just go back to your tower and fall asleep there. Then you wake up and can continue on your adventures.”

“You know…” Anna says. “I think I might do that…”

“Fair enough! I’m going to keep on exploring, so see ya!” 

As Anna leves the library, Scarlett waves good-bye. She then returns to her tower, and goes to sleep.

\------------

She awakens in the tent, and her body feels a bit sore from sleeping in such a cramped space. But her HP is full, so it wasn’t as if the rest was worthless. 

Anna goes out of the tent, to see the gila monster looking at her with happiness.

“Nice to see you awake.” he says.

Anna stands up.

“Thanks.” she says. “It was nice sleeping in your tent.”

She was somewhat lying, but she wanted to be polite. She begins to leave

“And remember Maid, you can stop by anytime!”

But by the time the consort says this, she’s gone deeper into the maze.


	17. A Word From The Author

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I’ve kinda lost a bit of motivation with what I’ve got so far on SBURBStuck. So, I’ve decided that I’m going to rewrite it, and start anew, in a way.

> _A girl sits at a desk, a slight glow coming from her computer. She’s trying to write, but can’t bring herself to._
> 
> _She waits a day, and tries to come back to it. But again, she’s unmotivated._
> 
> _The girl sighs. She’s getting nowhere._
> 
> _She might as well start anew._


End file.
